WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) - President Obama will use his bully pulpit to urge lawmakers to prevent a doubling of interest rates on federally subsidized student loans.

On July 1, the interest rate on federal subsidized loans will go from 3.4% to 6.8%. That means students taking out loans for the next school year will have to dig deeper in their pockets to pay them off.

"If we want to keep jobs in our country, we have to have an educated work force," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Friday. "We have to educate our way to a better economy."

More than 7 million undergraduates have subsidized student loans, which means the federal government absorbs some of the interest rate for lower- and middle-income families based on financial need.

If Congress does nothing, the cost to students borrowing the maximum $23,000 in subsidized loans is an extra $5,000 over a 10-year repayment period.

soundoff(3 Responses)

Flamespeak

A couple of things here.

1. The problem isn't with education in America, nor is it with lack of jobs, so much as it is a problem with people getting degrees in fields where there is little to no demand and not realizing that just because the have a degree doesn't mean they have a leg up on anyone in this day and age where the market is flooded with people with degrees in non-field related studies.

2. There is almost no stress being put on in demand vocational fields by nearly all basic education schools. Plumbers, welders, linemen, and other such vocational trades are still in high demand to the point that some jobs are willing to offer you training to get you qualified to work in those fields while you work as unskilled labor, however, we see no recommendation for this kind of work because it has a stigma of being 'beneath' today's workforce or is not even considered by them in the first place due to no mention of it during their courses of study.

3. Follow the money. Who gives out most of these student loans and what do they have to gain for doing so? I will let you do that research like I did, and I am sure the answer will surprise you like it did me.

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